A Gateshead pub boss who masterminded a plot to import millions of pounds worth of drugs into the UK has been ordered to pay back his ill-gotten gains.

Sandro Farini, who at the time was the owner of the Skiff Inn in Swalwell, was jailed for seven years after heading a gang planning to flood the country with large amounts of 100% pure liquid amphetamine.

Farini, alongside henchman Jaswinder Sahota, a businessman from Derby, used criminal contacts around the UK and in Belgium and Holland to run the lucrative operation.

Their plan was rumbled in October 2012 when a lorry operated by a Stockton-based haulage firm was stopped at Coquelles, in France.

Border Force officers searched the vehicle and found 60 litres of the drugs in plastic containers disguised as ‘Add Blue’, an additive used to improve the performance of diesel engines.

All members of the group were subsequently arrested, and 50,000 Euros in cash was seized from the Skiff Inn - money which officers believe was intended to be used to buy more of the drug in Europe.

In February 2013 a further 25 litres of liquid amphetamine hydrochloride were imported via the same haulier.

Farini, 50, admitted conspiracy to import a class B drug at Newcastle Crown Court and now has three months to payback more than £1m or face another seven years in prison.

Kim Kitney, financial investigation senior manager at the NCA’s economic crime command, said: “These substantial orders represent the culmination of the NCA’s action to dismantle an organised crime group targeting the North East drugs market.

“Tracing the gang’s assets and identifying the profit made is painstaking and time consuming, but it is vital both to prevent criminals enjoying the benefit of their activity but also to take away the capital they could use to fund any future operations.

“Taking away assets can hurt criminals more than prison sentences and demonstrates that the NCA will use every tool available to pursue organised criminals and dismantle criminal networks.”

Farini, of Grange View, Newbottle, has been ordered to pay £1,106,186.75.